Maxime de la Rocheterie on Marie-Antoinette

"She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr."

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

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Monday, April 7, 2014

A fresh vision and a love for French culture inspired Lillian and Ted
Williams, classicists and home restorers, to return an abandoned folie
in Normandy, France, to the condition that made the structure a "jewel
in a wheat field" during the halcyon days before the French Revolution.
The Chateau de Morson, built in 1750 for the Marquis de Morson, is one
of the few remaining folies in France. The gentlemen’s getaways were
frequently a target for revolutionaries seeking to destroy any lingering
symbols of the aristocracy. The folies not ruined by political action
have been ravaged by the elements, Lillian Williams notes: "This house
was not built to survive 200 years, it was built as a whim." The Chateau
de Morson is unusual not only for its survival in the face of
adversity, but also for its location in the Normandy countryside–most
folies were found on the outskirts of Paris and Bordeaux, perfect
locations for city-dwelling gentlemen to escape for an afternoon’s
dangerous liaison.

When the Williamses entered the abandoned
dwelling in Normandy for the first time, they saw a dramatic parlor with
14-foot ceilings and graceful glass doors overlooking fields of wheat.
Struck by the beauty, they instantly decided to purchase the nobleman’s
playhouse. "It took us 20 seconds to buy and 10 years to restore it. If
we hadn’t bought it, it would have fallen down," Lillian says.

As
Americans in France, the Williamses join the ranks of legendary interior
designer Elsie de Wolfe and novelist Edith Wharton as Francophile
owners of folies. What is taken for granted as a French ruin by many
natives is rediscovered as a treasure with the fresh, appreciative eyes
of Americans, Lillian observes. "I think the Americans have made their
impact," she says. In the American style, the couple also brings the
do-it-yourself ethic to the Continent. "We used more of our imagination
and less of others’," Lillian explains. The walls are hand-painted and
fabrics are selected based on her studies of ceramics and extensive
knowledge of 18th-century art and textiles, which she uses to design
fabric and wallpaper for the likes of Manuel Canovas. A large amount of
the repair and refurbishment work on the manor was completed by Ted
Williams. (Read more.)

1 comment:

Might be a fun pastime for them, but having personally dealt with fixing up an old house I have found it to be beyond inconvenient not to mention the enormous drain on the budget, and there is still more basic stuff to be done....forget about great looking drapes, wall hangings, canopies, etc.

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